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Brian Abbinanti
James Celestino
Eng. 1010 8am
31 July 2016
Depression, its Stigmas, and How Treatment is Affected
If a group of fifth graders were asked if they, or someone they knew, had broken a bone,
they would likely all have a name in mind or a story to tell about it. However, if you asked that
same group of fifth graders how many of them had experienced, or knew someone who had
experienced a major depressive episode, few if any would respond. It is easy to recognize how
common and inconvenient physical injury or illness is, but when it comes to mental health and
illness society is much less capable of recognizing its reality. Depression and anxiety can be
considered somewhat of the common cold of mental health, but it is seldom discussed and thus,
in a manner of speech, is swept under the rug. The harmful and potent effects of depression and
anxiety permeate through society without making a big fuss, and as such is not talked about. This
creates stigma. The relationship between stigma and depression causes the treatment for
depression to be greatly hindered, and those who may be uneducated about depression need to
understand that depression is real, its stigma is real, and feeding into that stigma will do all harm
and no good.
Depression is as real as the aforementioned broken bones many people experience in life.
In fact, most people will experience a depressive episode sometime in their life. Now how
intense or long that episode will be can greatly vary from person to person, as well as how many
will occur within their lifetime. Depression is clearly recognized by the National Institute of
Mental Health. They say, It is a real illness. It is not a sign of a persons weakness or a character

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flaw. You cant snap out of clinical depression. Most people who experience depression need
treatment to get better. (U.S. Department of Mental Health) Depression can be caused by a
multitude of factors. Triggers can include traumatic events, loneliness, loss of a loved one or
even high stress. Once someone is in this state of conciseness it is very difficult to pull out.
Depression is not only linked with psychological factors, but also has biological
contributors as well. Depression can go hand in hand with physical conditions such as obesity,
diabetes, and child birth to name a few. The root of depression from a physiological standpoint is
a chemical imbalance in the brain. Low levels of serotonin have been linked with depression.
Serotonin is a chemical in the brain that helps healthy communication happen within the brain. It
is linked with appetite, sexual desire, sleep, and other basic life functions. So naturally when the
brain is deprived of this crucial neurotransmitter, a persons life can be drastically different.
There has also been a study that displays a relationship between depression and a DNA chain
called a telomere. The length of this telomere was examined and evaluated with weather the
individual showed symptoms of depression. This study wrote There was suggestive evidence
that pharmacologically treated [depression] is associated with shorter telomere length, likely
reflecting the more severe nature of [depression] that has come to clinical depression.
(Needham, 1). Understanding the relationship between depression and these segments of DNA
clearly show that there is a biological link when it comes to depression.
Not only does depression itself have multiple sides to study, but the stigma behind it also
can be examined in multiple ways. The most obvious way to look at the stigma behind
depression is to observe how the population views depression. These view can include ideas such
as: depressed individuals having low willpower, sufferers not being able to control their
emotions, being too hard on themselves, it being able to be fixed by thinking more positively.

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These statements are common among across borders and cultures. In fact, an English study was
conducted to find how the depression stigma permeates across these cultures. A questionnaire
was given to decently a sized group of British whites and British Bangladeshis. Older British
Bangladeshis believed depression was an illness that brought a sense of shame and loss of
dignity to the individual and his or her family, and they also favored a lay referral system for
sufferers. (McClelland 225) These false assumptions are clearly nonspecific when it comes to
nationality or culture. It seems as though this stigma is an inherent part of human psychology.
However, this is not the case.
Another way to look at stigma is the internal stigma that may be associated with
depression. Human beings are very sensitive the environment that is around them. It affects how
they think of the world, and how they think the world thinks about them. This has been hard
wired into the way people think. If someone goes through their entire childhood hearing from
their abusive parent they are a failure and will never amount to anything, that person will likely
have long term self-esteem issues. The depression stigma is no different. Weather a child is
struggling with depression or not, if they grow up hearing the subtle comments from the people
in their environment about how anything can be fixed with positive thinking, when they reach a
point in their life that cannot be simply fixed with positive thinking, they begin to wonder why
the heaviness of depression wont go away. How they view themselves will put a handicap on
their recovery because things arent like what they were told growing up. Also, it is not
uncommon for a depressed individual to be unwilling to admit that there even is a problem,
because they dont want to fall into a category of weak people. How a depressed person views
their condition has an even greater impact on their state of mind than how others may talk about
them.

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This internal stigma may be the root of what prevents someone from seeking out or
accepting treatment. They may refuse to take medication because they feel that medicine is
unnecessary for a problem they can fix on their own. They may avoid seeking therapy or
counseling because they dont want to be judged by someone. Or they may not even mention
how they feel because they are afraid of the stigma that they feel will be put on them by whoever
they tell. These are all real roadblocks that stand in the way of someone achieving a state of
mental peace. These roadblocks, to the depressed mind, can seem insurmountable and
permanent.
At its emotional core depression is driven by a feeling of isolation. Some of the largest
thought processes for someone suffering from depression are Nobody knows how I feel. If I
was dead nobody would miss me. I dont even contribute to my loved ones life. I am a
burden to others. These thoughts are very real to the depressed, and can be frightening enough
on their own. If someone is in fear of a stigma that they invented or have heard from other people
on top of these depressive thoughts, it can cause them to draw even further into isolation.
Being further isolated will only feed the depression even more. Its like the mirror effect. One
becomes what they see in the mirror, and as they change into the image perceived within the
mirror, the mirror image does as well. This causes someone suffering from depression do go into
a downward spiral that is very difficult to break. If this decent into darkness is not caught,
noticed, or treated there is a very likely chance that this person could be driven to take their own
life. Suicide seems to be the only escape from the burden that could easily have been avoided if
the sufferer did not feel they were alienated, or would be judged for feeling the way they do.
So what is to be done? How do these cycles of isolation and depression break so the
depressed population can begin a healthy road to recovery? The answer lies within education.

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When people have an understanding and not simply a knowledge of a particular topic their
willingness to discuss said topic is increased and their ability to contribute to it is dramatically
influenced in a positive way. A recent study has shown that when people are educated about
depression, anxiety, its causes, and how it can be helped, the stigma behind it is greatly reduced.
A sample of the Chineese population were given a short seminar about depression and were
followed up with two weeks later. This was compared to a control group that recived no such
education. The director of the study wrote, Adopting a manner through which participants can
understand the diagnosis, causes, treatments and prognosis of major depression, the present study
demonstrated a practical program of psychoeducation that effectively reduced the social distance
2 weeks after the implementation. (Han 671) If people are educated and brought up from a
young age about the nature of depression and how to deal with it the stigma can be reduced if not
erased. Not only can this education help reduce the stigma behind depression, it also can allow
those who are educated to offer help and support to those that are plagued by depression. It will
allow the general population to become the first line of defense against the epidemic of
depression and the suicide that all too often follows. The internal stigma also dissolves because
one who deals with depression now has the confidence to know that they will not be ridiculed or
exiled when it comes to their emotions and how they interact with the world. A path for hope and
healing can be available if there is simply a greater emphasis to educate about mental illness
from an early age. The same study that was performed by Alastair Mclelland, Shopnara Khanam
and Adrian Furnham displayed how the effects of this education is already beginning to effect
the youth. It was reported that the negative and shameful views of depression were nonexistent in
the younger groups between both cultures. They wrote . . . there appears to be very little
difference between the two cultures in the young age group with respect to knowledge of

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depression. (235) Education becomes the cure to the depression stigma across creeds, race, and
boarders.

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Works Cited
Han, Der-Yan, and Sue-Huei Chen. "Reducing The Stigma Of Depression Through
Neurobiology-Based Psychoeducation: A Randomized Controlled Trial." Psychiatry &
Clinical Neurosciences 68.9 (2014): 666-673. Academic Search Premier. Web. 20 July
2016.
Needham, B L, et al. "Depression, Anxiety And Telomere Length In Young Adults: Evidence
From The National Health And Nutrition Examination Survey." Molecular
Psychiatry 20.4 (2015): 520-528. Academic Search Premier. Web. 23 July 2016.
McClelland, Alastair, Shopnara Khanam, and Adrian Furnham. "Cultural And Age Differences
In Beliefs About Depression: British Bangladeshis Vs. British Whites." Mental Health,
Religion & Culture 17.3 (2014): 225-238.Academic Search Premier. Web. 23 July 2016.
U.S. Department of Mental Health. "Depression: What You Need to Know. "www.nimh.nih.gov
U.S. Department of Mental Health, 15 Dec. 2015. Web. 1 Aug. 2016.